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The eyewitness

A photographer who observed the results of a large-scale security raid in the metropolitan area has described how community members brought back disfigured remains of the deceased individuals.

The bodies "kept piling up: the numbers kept rising", the photographer stated. The total contained security forces.

One of the bodies had been decapitated - others were "totally disfigured", he said. Numerous victims displayed what appeared to be blade trauma.

More than 120 people lost their lives during Tuesday's raid against a criminal group - the deadliest such raid the municipality has seen.

The eyewitness stated that he initially learned about the operation in the early hours by community members living in Alemão, who reached out telling him an armed confrontation was occurring.

The eyewitness made his way to the healthcare center, where the bodies were being brought.

The eyewitness reported that law enforcement prevented journalists from accessing the operation zone, where the security measures were occurring.

"Police officers created a barrier and announced: 'Media representatives cannot proceed beyond this point'."

But Itan, who grew up in that neighborhood, explained he managed to make his way into the cordoned-off area, where he stayed until dawn.

He reported during the night, area inhabitants started looking the elevated terrain that borders Penha from the nearby Alemão neighbourhood for family members who had been missing after the operation.

Local people living in Penha organized the discovered victims in a public space - and Itan's photos reveal the reaction of those present.

"The violence of what occurred affected me a lot: the sorrow of relatives, parents losing consciousness, expectant spouses, crying, angry family members," the reporter recounted.

The photographer

The official of the region announced that the extensive law enforcement effort involving around 2,500 law enforcement members was intended to stopping an illegal organization known as the criminal faction from growing their influence.

At first, local officials maintained that "60 suspects and four police officers" were fatally injured during the action.

Officials subsequently stated that initial estimates indicates that 117 alleged criminals lost their lives.

The public legal service, that offers legal help to the poor, has calculated the final tally of fatalities as 132.

Based on expert analysis, the gang stands as the sole illegal faction that recently has succeeded to expand its territory in the state of Rio de Janeiro.

It is generally regarded one of the two largest gangs in Brazil, together with a rival criminal group, featuring a timeline spanning over five decades.

Per Brazilian journalist an expert, who has been covering criminal activity in the city extensively, the gang "works as a system" with neighborhood bosses joining the organization and serving as "operational allies".

The gang focuses mainly on illegal drug trade, additionally trafficking guns, gold, energy resources, alcohol cigarettes.

Based on official reports, organization members possess significant weaponry and police said that throughout the operation, they came under attack via weaponized unmanned aircraft.

The official of the state, the government representative, described Red Command members as criminal extremists and referred to the security forces killed in the raid as "heroes".

However, the count of fatalities during the raid has come in for criticism with the Office of the United Nations High Commissioner for Human Rights expressing they felt "shocked".

During a press briefing the next day, the official supported law enforcement.

"We did not plan to kill anyone. We wanted to take suspects into custody without harm," he declared.

He continued that the events intensified because the suspects had retaliated: "It resulted of the retaliation they executed and the excessive violence from the gang members."

The state leader also said that the victims shown by residents in the neighborhood were "altered".

Through a message on social media, he said that some of them had been removed of tactical gear which he claimed they wore "in order to shift blame onto the police".

Felipe Curi of Rio's civil police force additionally stated that military attire, body armor, and firearms" had been removed from the bodies and displayed evidence appearing to show an individual stripping military attire {off a corpse